THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you for coming, thanks for the
warm welcome, and thank you for supporting George Allen to be reelected
United States Senator of the great state of Virginia. (Applause.)

I'm proud to be here with him. He's a man who has earned the confidence
of the people of this state as a delegate, as the governor -- and a very
successful governor -- as a United States Senator. (Applause.) He's
the kind of fellow who says he's going to -- what he tells you on the
campaign trail he does in office. He doesn't need a poll or a focus
group to tell him what to think or what to say. George Allen is a man
of strong principle, he is a leader, he is the right man to be the
United States senator from the state of Virginia. (Applause.)

And he married well. (Laughter and applause.) And so did I.
(Applause.) See, we got something in common -- we're both named George
and we both married smart, beautiful women. (Applause.) Laura is very
fond of the Allens. She understands that they are honorable, decent
people; honest, good folks. We're proud to call them friends, and I
know the people of Virginia are proud to call George Allen United States
Senator. (Applause.)

I appreciate the Lieutenant Governor -- Lieutenant Governor Bill
Bolling, and his wife Jean Ann and the family are with us today.
Governor, thanks for coming. Speaker Bill Howell is with us.
Appreciate you being here, Mr. Speaker.

I had the honor of meeting an interesting fellow at the airport today --
as a matter of fact, he was at the steps there when I got off of Air
Force One, and we traveled throughout his senatorial district a little
bit because we went and bought some pumpkins. (Laughter.) His name is
State Senator Benny Lambert. (Applause.) See, the Allen campaign
understands that you reach across party line. He did that as the
Governor of the state of the Virginia; he has done that as the United
States Senator. There's no doubt in my mind this good man will win by
getting the votes of Republicans, discerning Democrats, and wise
independents. (Applause.)

I really want to thank you all for coming. I appreciate you
contributing to his campaign, and I want to thank the grassroots
activists who are here for what you're fixing to do. See, we're getting
close to voting time. We're coming down the stretch. And for those of
you who are going to be putting up the signs and making the phone calls
and going to your houses of worship or community centers urging people
to do their duty as an American citizen and voting for George Allen, I
want to thank you. A lot of times, the grassroots folks don't get the
thanks that you deserve. I'm here giving you thanks; I know the Senator
gives you thanks. Work hard. We need him in the United States Senate
for the good of the United States of America. (Applause.)

I'm looking forward to continue working with Senator Allen to diversify
our energy. I'm looking forward to promoting ethanol and new
technologies so that we can change our habits and become less dependent
on foreign sources of oil. For the economic security of the United
States, and for the national security of the United States, we need to
get off oil. (Applause.)

I'm looking forward to continue to work with Senator Allen to make sure
that patients and doctors make the decisions for health care, not for
people in Washington, D.C. (Applause.) There's a lot of domestic
issues that I look forward to working with Senator Allen on, but there's
no bigger issue than what we do with the people's money -- no bigger
issue.

There's a lot of rhetoric in these campaigns, a lot of needless noise in
a campaign. A lot of time it's to obscure the fundamental issues facing
the people of Virginia, and the people all across our nation. And the
two biggest issues in this campaign, in any campaign across the country,
is which party will take the steps necessary to protect the American
people and win the war on terror, and which party is going to keep your
taxes low to keep this economy growing. (Applause.)

George Allen and I have made our position very plain. Nobody has to
guess where we stand. We got a clear record on taxes, and our
philosophy is easy to understand. It says: We trust the people. See,
we understand it's your money, not the government's money. We think the
best people to spend the hard-earned dollars that you make is you. We
understand the economy grows when you have more money in your pocket to
save, spend or invest.

And therefore, we worked together to deliver the greatest tax cuts since
Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States. (Applause.) We
said, if you're going to have tax relief, then everybody who pays taxes
ought to get relief. So we reduced the marriage penalty, as well. We
doubled the child tax credit. We understand that an economy grows when
the small business owners are growing. And so we cut taxes on small
businesses.

We cut taxes on capital gains and dividends to promote investment and
jobs. And to reward family businesses and farmers right here in the
great state of Virginia for a lifetime of hard work and savings, we put
the death tax on the road to extinction. (Applause.)

Our record on cutting taxes is clear, and the Democrats in Washington,
D.C. have a record of their own. The trouble is, they don't want you to
know about it. (Laughter.) It's interesting that recently the top
Democrat leader in the House of Representatives made an interesting
declaration. She said, "We love tax cuts." Given her record, she must
be a secret admirer. (Laughter.) It's just not the so-called "tax cuts
for the rich" she opposes.

When we cut taxes for everybody who pays income taxes, she voted against
it. When we reduced the marriage penalty, she voted against it. When
we cut taxes on small businesses, she voted against it. When we put the
death tax on the road to extinction, she voted against it. Time and
time again, she and her party voted against tax cuts. Time and time
again, when she had an opportunity to show her love for tax cuts, she
voted no. If this is the Democrats' idea of love -- (laughter) -- I
wouldn't want to see what hate looks like. (Laughter and applause.)

But, by the way, this view of taxes extends beyond the House of
Representatives. Democrats in the United States Senate had the same
point of view. I remember when we cut the taxes in 2003. See, we were
coming out of a recession, and we were dealing with the effects of a
terrorist attack, and we were dealing with the effects of corporate
scandal, and we knew that in order to recover we had to let the people
have more of their own money.

And one Democrat in the Senate said these tax cuts would do nothing to
create jobs. One of his colleagues called the tax cuts the wrong
prescription for our economy. Those were the predictions, and here are
the results: the tax cuts we passed have put more than a trillion
dollars in the hands of American workers and families and small
businesses, including millions of families right here in Virginia. And
the amazing thing is, the people did a much better job with your money
than the government did, or could have done. (Applause.)

Since August 2003 our economy has had 37 straight months of job growth.
Since August of 2003, we added 6.6 million new jobs. Small businesses
are flourishing; home ownership is up. This economy is strong, and we
intend to keep it that way. (Applause.)

You know, I'm sure you've heard the line that the Democrats are just
going to raise taxes on the rich. They say it every time. But I want
the people here in Virginia who are listening to the debate on taxes to
remember what happened back in 1992, after the Democrats campaigned on
cutting the taxes for the middle class. Well, they won, and they came
to power, and the middle class tax cut they promised turned out to be
one of the largest tax increases in American history.

We just have a different view of the world when it comes to taxes. We
believe you can spend your money well. The Democrats want the
government to spend your money. No, the best way to make sure that this
economy stays strong is to make the tax cuts we passed permanent. And
the best thing the Virginia citizens can do to make sure taxes stay low
is to send George Allen back to the United States Senate. (Applause.)

It's interesting, if you look at the history of tax cuts, the Democrat
Party always -- didn't always feel the way they feel today. Back in the
'60s, the Democrats understood that our economy grows when Americans
keep more of what they earn, when Americans make their own decisions
about how to save, spend, or invest. You might remember, when President
John F. Kennedy became President, he proposed across the board tax cuts
for American families and small businesses, including tax cuts on
capital gains.

In his message to the Congress in 1963 he explained that cutting taxes
across the board, in his words, would help strengthen every segment of
the American economy, and bring us closer to every basic objective of
American economic policy. John F. Kennedy was right in 1963, and George
Allen and I are right in 2006. (Applause.)

Next month, the people of this state and people all across the United
States have a basic choice to make: Do we keep taxes low so we can keep
the economy growing, or do we let the Democrats in Washington raise
taxes, which will hurt our economic growth? And I'm convinced, when
people sift through all the noise and listen carefully to the debate,
the people of this state and the people across the United States will
choose

low taxes and strong economy policy and growth, and that means
reelecting George Allen to the United States Senate. (Applause.)

The biggest issue we face is protecting the American people. It's the
most important job of government. I learned that lesson on September
the 11th, 2001, and so did George Allen and a lot of other good folks.
And we learned that fateful day that our most important responsibility
is to protect you, and this is a fundamental issue in this campaign:
What candidate or what party has got the right policies to protect the
American people from further attack.

We face a brutal enemy, an enemy that uses murder to achieve political
objectives. You can't negotiate with these people. There's no such
thing as a peace treaty with these kind of killers. The best way to
protect the American people is to stay on the offense and bring them to
justice before they hurt America again. (Applause.)

And the best way to protect America is to give our professionals the
tools they need to protect you from attack. We recently had a debate --
a series of debates in the House and the Senate that clarified the two
political parties' position on the war on terror on how best to protect
the American people.

I believe strongly that our CIA professionals should have authorization
to question people we pick up on the battlefield to determine whether or
not they have information that is necessary to protect you. (Applause.)
We're at war with a group of killers. We pick people up off the
battlefield, and I believe that it's necessary to learn what they know
so that we can anticipate attacks before they occur.

This bill came up before the -- in front of the United States Senate,
and one of the strongest advocates for making sure our professionals had
the tools necessary to protect you was Senator George Allen of the state
of Virginia. (Applause.)

The same cannot be said for his Democratic Senate colleagues. More than
70 percent of the United States senators from the Democrat Party voted
to take away this vital tool in the war on terror. We just have a
different point of view, a different look at the world.

You know, another clear example of the difference of opinion came when
we voted for and reauthorized what we call the Patriot Act. There was a
wall that existed between law enforcement and intelligence gathering in
the United States. I know that's hard to conceive, but it's true. In
other words, intelligence officers could not speak with law enforcement
officers. In this new war on terror against these extremists we have to
have good intelligence, and that good intelligence must be shared with
professionals all throughout government in order to be able to protect
you.

Right after September the 11th, when people were deeply concerned about
attacks and future attacks, George Allen voted yes on the Patriot Act,
as did 97 of his colleagues in the Senate. And yet, the bill needed to
be reauthorized years later.

And so I called upon the Senate. I said, there's still a threat; we
still face a threat. And yet, Senate Democrats filibustered the bill,
the reauthorization of a bill that would tear down the walls between
intelligence and law enforcement. Filibuster means they don't want it
to pass, so they talk a lot. (Laughter.) It happens quite a bit in
Washington. (Laughter.) The Senate Democratic leader bragged, "We have
killed the Patriot Act." Think about that. The main Democrat in the
United States Senate said, "We killed the Patriot Act." He was asked
later by a reporter whether killing the Patriot Act was really something
to celebrate, and he answered, "Of course it is."

There's a fundamental difference of opinion between Democrats and
Republicans on this issue. They voted for it right after 9/11; they
tried to kill it five years later. Kind of sounds familiar, doesn't it?
(Laughter.) They voted for it right before they voted against it.
(Laughter and applause.) You don't have to worry about George Allen
being steadfast and making sure our folks have the tools necessary to
protect you. A fundamental issue in this campaign is who best to
protect the United States of America. Our record is clear, and you need
to send George Allen back to the United States Senate so we can do our
duty, so we can assume the responsibilities of this era and protect you
from further attack.

A big issue in this campaign, of course, is Iraq. Iraq is a central
front in the war on terror. Iraq is a part of defeating an enemy that
would like to hurt us again. Oh, I know -- I've heard all the rhetoric;
I'm sure you've heard it, too, that people say Iraq is just a
distraction from the war on terror. That's what a lot of Democrats
believe. Well, if you're out there listening and you're worried about
who to vote for and worried about which party has the clearest vision
about how to protect the American people, don't take my word for whether
Iraq is part of the war on terror, listen to Osama bin Laden, or Mr.
Zawahiri. He's the number two man in al Qaeda.

These two killers have made it clear that Iraq is an important part of
their campaign to establish a totalitarian form of government across the
Middle East. They have made it clear in their words that they believe
America is weak, that it's just a matter of time, if they murder enough
people, that we will withdraw.

And they want us to withdraw. They want us to withdraw so that they can
establish safe haven from which to launch attacks. They want us to
withdraw so they can topple moderate governments. They want us to
withdraw because they got designs on energy. They would like nothing
more than to blackmail the free world with the fear of running up the
price of energy; blackmail the free world to abandon our alliance with
Israel; blackmail the free world to continue to force the West to cater
to their needs and their dark vision of the world.

When you couple all that with the possibility of Iran having a nuclear
weapon you begin to understand the stakes in the war on terror. You
begin to think about how important it is that when we confront the enemy
we defeat the enemy. (Applause.)

We have a fundamental disagreement in Washington, D.C. on this central
front in the war on terror. Most Democrats -- most leading Democrats
argue we should pull our troops out of Iraq -- some, right away; others,
in just a few months, even if the terrorists have not been defeated.
Others recommend moving our troops to an island 5,000 miles away.
Nineteen House Democrats introduced legislation that would cut off funds
for our troops in Iraq. All these programs have one thing in common --
they would have our country quit in Iraq before the job is done. That's
why they are the party of cut and run.

The United States of America will support our allies in Iraq. We will
stand with the 12 million people who demanded freedom at the ballot box.
Our goal of Iraq that can defend itself and govern itself and sustain
itself and an ally in the war on terror is an important goal. We will
give our commanders the flexibility they need to continue to change the
tactics to achieve that goal. We will fight, we will stay, and we will
win in Iraq. (Applause.)

And I want to thank Senator Allen's stand. This is tough, this is a
tough fight. It's a tough fight when we see carnage on our television
screens. It's a tough fight when somebody you know has volunteered to
serve the United States and doesn't come home. It's tough. But it's
tough for a reason: because the enemy understands the stakes in Iraq.
They have ambitions. And it's up to this generation to stand with our
troops, to put forth a strategy for victory; to not abandon those voices
in the Middle East, the millions of people who simply want to live in
peace. This is the calling of our time.

You know, the Democrat Party made a clear statement about the nature of
their party when it came to how they dealt with Senator Joe Lieberman.
He's a three-term Democrat from Connecticut who supports completing the
mission in Iraq. He took a strong, principled stand, and he was purged
from the Democrat Party.

Think about what it means. Six years ago, the Democrats thought that
Joe Lieberman was a good enough man and a good enough politician to run
as the Vice Presidential candidate. Now, because he supports victory in
Iraq for the sake of security in the United States, they don't think
he's fit to be in their party. There's only one position in the
Democratic Party that everybody seems to agree on. If you want to be a
Democrat these days, you can be for almost anything, but victory in Iraq
is not an option.

These are serious times. It requires steadfast leadership, strong
determination. People like George Allen need to be reelected to stand
strongly with our troops, the voices that desire peace. We'll stay on
the offense. We will keep the enemy on the run. We will do the hard
fight now so a generation of Americans can grow up in peace. We've got
fantastic assets on our side. We've got a military that will get all
the support and training they need to defend the American people.

We also have the power of liberty. Freedom is a powerful force. You
know, I like to tell people about an interesting experience I had.
That's when I went to Elvis' place -- (laughter) -- with the then
sitting Prime Minister of Japan. I went down there. I'd never been to
Elvis' place. I thought it would be interesting to go there.
(Laughter.) Prime Minister Koizumi wanted to go to Elvis' place because
he loves Elvis. (Laughter.)

But I wanted to tell a story, and I'm going to tell it to you right
quick, the reason I went. You might remember my dad, and I know some of
your relatives fought the Japanese as a sworn enemy. (Applause.) There
was a lot of kids in the early '40s that signed up to fight the
Japanese. They had attacked us, and this country was going to defend
ourselves.

I find it amazing, and I hope you do, too, that the son of Navy Pilot
George H.W. Bush, the sitting President of the United States, is on Air
Force One, flying down with the Prime Minister of the former enemy
talking about the peace. We're talking about North Korea, how we can
work together to convince the leader in North Korea to give up his
nuclear weapons ambitions. We're talking about the fact that Japan had
a thousand troops in Iraq because Prime Minister Koizumi and I know that
freedom is how you defeat an ideology of hatred; that we understand that
when you encourage liberty to flourish where it hadn't flourished, it
provides hope. It helps defeat those who prey on hopelessness.

It's an amazing conversation. I've had several with him. But every
time I have sat down with him, I find it interesting fact of history
that my dad fought the Japanese, and today his son is working to keep
the peace. Something happened. Japan adopted a Japanese-style
democracy. It's -- the example is liberty has the capacity to change an
enemy into an ally. Liberty has the capacity to turn a region of hate
into a region of compassion. Some day an American President will be
sitting down talking about the peace with duly-elected leaders from the
Middle East, and a generation of Americans will be better off.